


the one where no one's ready

by unnbrella



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Best Friend Squad (She-Ra), Comedy, F/F, Humor, bow is a dad, catra and adora are not helping, catra and adora are the children, glimmer is the wine aunt, glimmer suffers a loss, shenangians continue, the princesses are all together again and its CHAOTIC
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-10
Updated: 2020-06-10
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:54:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,006
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24652651
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unnbrella/pseuds/unnbrella
Summary: Bow makes the mistake of thinking it's a good idea to invite all the princesses over before going to an important dinner party hosted by his dads that they absolutely CANNOT be late for. Under any circumstances. This is going to go very well.(heavily inspired by the friends episode where no one is ready)
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Perfuma/Scorpia (She-Ra)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 151





	the one where no one's ready

“Why aren’t you guys dressed yet?” Bow checks his watch as he enters Glimmer’s bedroom again. “We’re leaving in half an hour.” He faces the mirror on the wall, adjusting the collar and bowtie of his new pink suit for what must be the tenth time now.

“Relax. It literally takes me five minutes to get ready,” comments Catra as she casually inspects her fingernails from Glimmer’s lounge chair, her legs draped over the armrest.

“Yeah, Bow, we’ll be ready,” assures Glimmer from the doorway of her large walk-in closet, adjusting her earring. “Look, I’ve got makeup - done. Hair - done. Now all I have to do is find something to wear!”

“You haven’t decided what you’re wearing yet?” asks Bow. “The rest of the princesses are going to be here any minute.” He’d assumed she’d be the one out of all of them to have her outfit picked days in advance.

“Well, I have to make sure this—” she gestures to her face, “—matches the rest of _this_. I can’t just… _throw_ something on. Obviously!” her voice trails away as she retreats into the closet again, disappearing from view.

“I can,” mutters Catra from the couch.

“I’m just saying, this is the _one_ thing we absolutely cannot be late for,” reminds Bow. “My dads have been planning this banquet for months now and you know how they can get when it comes to being on time. They’ll never say it out loud, but they kind of like everything to be perfect, so…”

“Project number two-seventy-five. Social experiment seventy-seven,” Entrapta wanders across Bow’s vision, her shoulders hunched and vision lowered to the beeping device clutched in her hands. “Respondents seem to be behaving mainly harmonious with one another despite current circumstances.”

“Entrapta, you’re doing _another_ social experiment on us?” Bow asks. He’d almost forgotten she was even here. At least _she_ showed up on time. Though, it was probably only for this reason specifically.

“Pretty sure you need consent from the people you experiment on,” Catra cranes her head over the armrest of the couch so she’s looking at Entrapta upside-down.

“Can’t talk now. I’m picking up some very important signals coming from the bathroom,” Entrapta informs, refusing to look up. She rushes towards it before Adora emerges from the direction of that very room. “Hey, look, it’s Adora!”

Looking right past Entrapta, Adora freezes when she notices Catra, who doesn’t seem to notice her back. She stares at the other girl for a few moments, the room going unusually silent. “You’re… you’re in my chair.”

Catra finally looks up, almost laughing at that. “ _Your_ chair?”

“Yeah,” Adora confirms as if it were obvious. “The chair I was sitting on.”

“You mean the chair you were sitting on before you _left_? Making it available to _me_?” counters Catra with a smug grin.

“I mean the chair as in the last place I was sitting,” Adora gestures to the couch matter-of-factly. “Therefore, it’s my spot.”

Catra scoffs. “Yeah. Okay,” she readjusts her position to get comfortable, clearly having no intention of getting up any time soon. She lets her eyelids fall closed in relaxation. “Looks like you’re gonna have to force me out of it, princess.”

“But—you knew I was coming back!” Adora points out, annoyed.

“Come on guys, do we really have to do this right now?” Bow jumps in, attempting to be as civil as possible. “You _both_ should be getting ready, anyway.”

Seemingly ignoring Bow’s comment, Adora only glares harder at Catra, who is staring back at her with a challenging smirk.

“You know what? Fine. I guess we’ll just have to _both_ sit in the chair,” concludes Adora. With that, she practically leaps into Catra’s lap, emitting a squeak of surprise from the other girl. “Ah, yes. So comfortable,” she says, even though the position she’s in looks far from it.

“Okay, okay, okay,” Glimmer rushes out of the walk-in closet once more, holding up a hanger with a sparkly blue dress and raising it to her chest. “Does this say… ‘mature yet fun’ or ‘boring responsible adult that probably no one wants to hang out with’?” she asks no one in particular.

“Uh…” Bow scratches the back of his neck, examining the dress.

Before he can continue, Glimmer jumps in excitement. “Oh, wait! I just remembered. I have something even better!” She races out of view before anyone even has the time to object.

Suddenly, there’s a loud thud followed by Adora uttering a pained “ow.”

When Bow returns his attention to the other women, he finds Adora laying crippled on the floor by Catra’s feet.

“Oops,” smirks Catra, her tone dripping with sarcasm.

Bow releases an exasperated sigh. “Okay, how about this. Adora, _you_ go get dressed and by the time you get back, Catra will have to get ready and you can have the chair back. Okay?”

After making her way to her feet, Adora squints suspiciously at Bow, considering that proposal. She then squints at Catra, exchanging silent threats, before finally choosing to be the responsible one out of the two of them. “Alright,” she agrees simply with a raised chin before slowly sauntering to the next room over.

Bow exhales after she’s gone, satisfied at least _one_ situation is handled for now.

“Sorry we’re late, everyone!” Perfuma stumbles into the doorway minutes later, out of breath. “Scorpia had a little problem getting her dress on, but don’t worry, everything is just fine now!”

Scorpia follows her into the room. “Pincers,” she chuckles nervously, raising a claw to prove her point. “They get in the way sometimes.”

“Oh, thank you _so_ much for coming,” Bow rushes towards the door, relieved. He wraps an arm around both of their shoulders, facing Catra and Entrapta. “See, you guys? _This_ is what it looks like to be on time and ready to go! So… why don’t we get started on that, okay? _Whoo_ , fun party time!” He throws his fists in the air to make it seem like getting ready can actually be fun.

“Catra! I’ve missed you!” exclaims Scorpia.

“Hey, Scorpia,” Catra smiles gently, now on her feet and standing beside Bow. She yelps when Scorpia pulls her into a sudden embrace, lifting her feet straight off the ground. “Okay. You’re crushing me,” she groans painfully, hardly able to breathe.

“Oh gosh, sorry! I forget sometimes,” Scorpia returns her to the ground instantly, chuckling to herself.

Hearing voices, Glimmer returns wearing a pale purple gown. She races towards the new faces in the room. “ _Ooh_! Thank goodness you’re here. I need you to help me choose a necklace!”

“Oh, fun!” Perfuma gasps excitedly as she’s dragged away by the hand before anyone can process it.

“You look amazing, by the way,” Glimmer compliments Perfuma, their enthusiastic voices already fading away into the walk-in closet.

“Uhh… ‘kay, I’ll just—I’ll wait out here!” Scorpia calls out after them. For a moment, she stands there awkwardly, then perks up upon noticing the fancy candy jar on Glimmer’s dresser. “Ooh, chocolates!”

As Scorpia becomes distracted, Adora enters the bedroom once again. She’s now wearing a fitted black dress with her long hair tied back into a french braid. Two blonde strands hang loosely on either side of her face.

Adora and Catra meet eyes from across the room. They both glance at the empty chair, then back at each other. Then they both _sprint_ towards it as fast as their legs can carry them.

Of course, Adora almost trips on her way there because of her heeled shoes and Catra beats her by half a second like she always does.

Effortlessly, Catra leaps onto the couch like the cheater that she is, reclaiming her spot with a proud smirk.

Defeated, Adora stops in front of her, folding her arms across her chest. “Where’s my bra?”

“What bra?” asks Catra.

“The strapless one. The one that you wanted to borrow.”

“I don’t know. You probably just lost it along with every other thing you own,” Catra absentmindedly scratches one of her fingernails with her thumb.

“No. I didn’t,” Adora insists firmly, giving her a hard stare. “I had it in my drawer. And now it’s gone. and you’re the only one that would go into my drawer.”

“Well, it wasn’t me,” defends Catra honestly, genuinely not knowing where it is.

“ _But it_ —” Adora groans loudly, making a frustrated hand gesture as if she were strangling an invisible person. Then she lowers her arms, exhaling to calm herself somewhat. She jabs a threatening finger at Catra, already beginning to walk away. “You know what? You take my clothes, I’m gonna do the exact _opposite_ to you!”

“What are you gonna do, _show_ me my clothes?!” challenges Catra, confused as to what on earth that could mean.

Adora momentarily whips around to face her from the other side of the room. “MAYBE SO!”

“Adora!” Bow attempts to chase her. “Can we—and… she’s gone. Okay.” He stops and stares after her longingly. They were so _close_. So close to being ready.

The room is surprisingly quiet again. Just when Bow starts to get used to it, he feels someone come up behind him and jumps in fear at Entrapta’s startling voice.

“Oh, sorry! Don’t mind me!” she jabbers, still peering down at the device in her hands.

“ _Entrapta!”_ blurts Bow, partially out of frustration and also from the fact that she just scared the absolute life out of him. He keeps forgetting that she’s here. How can someone be so _quiet_ at times yet so loud at others? “What are you even experimenting on? We’re not _doing_ anything.”

“Exactly!” exclaims Entrapta. “By presumably doing ‘nothing’, you’re naturally emitting genuine reactions based off the unfolding circumstances. In fact, I am sensing a bit of a slight inconvenience within your data, Bow,” she presses a few buttons on the device, inspecting it. “You seem… mildly stressed.”

“ _No_. No. I’m… I’m not stressed,” Bow lies, his body tensing just from saying those words. “I am simply… existing as any ordinary person would.” He forces a pleasant smile.

Scorpia peers over his other shoulder, hands full of tiny chocolates. “Are you sure about that? I mean, you seem… you seem kinda stressed,” she observes, stuffing another one into her mouth.

“Well, I’m not,” Bow insists. He approaches Glimmer’s closet, calling into the void, “Are you guys done in there? We have—” he checks his watch, “—fifteen minutes before we have to leave!”

At that second, Glimmer emerges back into the bedroom followed by Perfuma. “Almost ready,” notifies Glimmer. “I just have to grab something. Be right back!” She darts past an expectant Bow and out into the hallway.

Bow groans, momentarily clutching his head in his hands. He doesn’t even try to stop her. Why does everyone keep _leaving_?

Soon enough, Adora returns from her own bedroom.

Everyone stops and stares at the girl standing triumphant in the doorway, silent and clothed in what looks like endless layers of every piece of clothing you could imagine, appearing like a giant marshmallow that is twice Adora’s size.

No one really knows how to react to that. But she looks really proud for some reason.

Finally, Catra is the one to break the silence. “WHY?” she shouts, bewildered at the idiot standing before her. There doesn’t really seem to be another word for her confusion - or anyone’s, for that matter.

With brows furrowed in determination, Adora plants her hands on her hips as if she had just bested everyone in the room. “You take my seat. You take my bra. So now… I’m wearing everything you own.”

Perfuma giggles nervously, eyeing the girl’s new fashion statement. “Wow… I love it…” her voice trails off awkwardly. Interesting choice, but still, Perfuma is not judging.

“Wait, Catra has more than one outfit?” Scorpia realizes, muttering to herself more than anyone.

Catra cackles at Adora in disbelief. “Oh my god, seriously?!” Sometimes, she really can’t believe who she’s dating.

“Yeah. Seriously!” Adora bites back. Her expression couldn’t be more serious, as opposed to Catra who just thinks the whole thing is hilarious.

“Oh my god. Okay.” Bow pinches the bridge of his nose, composing his inner panic. It’s best if he ignores them for now. “ _Glimmer_!” He screams in the direction of the hallway.

Glimmer’s distant voice can be heard outside. “I’m here, I’m here!” she stumbles into the room and catches her breath for a few moments. “Look, everyone. I made a cake for the banquet!” She kicks the door closed behind her, presenting everyone in the room with the cake stand she’s now carrying.

Perfuma and Scorpia excitedly gather around her, admiring the beautiful presentation of Glimmer’s creation. It’s topped with various colorful fruit and decorative flowers made of purple icing around the sides.

“It took me all day and multiple failed attempts but I’m almost pretty sure I got it to stop tasting like cardboard two recipes ago, so…” Glimmer effuses with a proud grin on her face.

“Wow! It looks great!” compliments Perfuma.

“Oh, this is _exciting_!” beams Scorpia. “Gosh, I just _love_ cake. I really do.”

Glimmer smiles. “Aw, thanks—”

Suddenly the door behind Glimmer _bursts_ open, smashing her in the back and causing the cake to go plummeting to the ground.

“Who’s ready for an ADVENTURE?” proclaims Sea Hawk in a booming voice, one hand still on the door handle and the other making a fist at the sky.

Mermista saunters in next to him, unenthused. “I swear, I’m not with him.”

Glimmer stares down at the floor in horror for a few moments. “NOOOOO!” She drops to her knees dramatically. “ _My cake! My cardboard cake!”_ she cries out, the despair in her voice suddenly getting the newcomers’ attention.

Sea Hawk gasps in terror upon noticing the destruction he had just accidentally caused, gaping down at the scattered mess before them. “OH NO, YOUR CARDBOARD CAKE!”

“Cardboard cake?” Mermista asks, wondering if she heard correctly. “Uh… why would you make a cardboard cake?”

At that moment, Frosta barges in from behind Mermista, ice fists equipped on both hands. “WHAT HAPPENED? WHAT DID I MISS?”

“Oh, this is _perfect_!” Entrapta cackles maniacally from nearby, excited from the sudden wave of action.

Unfazed by what everyone else is saying, Glimmer only continues to sob hysterically on the floor, kneeling in defeat before her destroyed creation. “I… I used up so many ingredients for that! I threw out so many cakes! How are your dads ever going to approve of me without a cardboard cake?!”

“Oh. I thought someone _died_ ,” says Frosta, disappointed.

Scorpia leans closer to Perfuma, lowering her voice so only they can hear. “Wait, is it _actually_ made of cardboard?”

“ _What_? They _already_ approve of you!” shrieks Bow, hardly believing anything that’s happening anymore. “You’re being ridiculous!”

Frosta raises her ice fists once more. “All right, who ruined the cake?! WHO DO I NEED TO PUNCH?”

“DID SOMEONE SAY SWIFT WIND?”

Perfuma screams is surprise at the horse bursting through the crowded doorway, mane blowing and horn sparkling amidst the chaos unfolding around him. There are other gasps amongst the room.

“EVERYONE, SHHHH!” shouts Bow with a dramatic silencing gesture. The room turns quiet, his voice surprisingly overpowering all the chaos. “Glimmer. Forget the cake! There’s no time. Adora. Take off your clothes! Catra. Put on your clothes. Everyone else. OUT THE DOOR. NOW!”

They all stare at him for a few moments, dumbfounded. There isn’t much time for anyone to argue before Bow physically urges the group outside, pushing them like a group of school children.

“Do we not get cake?” Sea Hawk realizes in a small voice, frowning.

Everyone mutters amongst themselves as they finally scurry into the hallway.

Bow shuts the door behind him, leaving Catra and Adora alone in silence.

* * *

Catra adjusts her short hair in their bedroom mirror, running her fingers through it so it’s messy enough to her liking. She smooths her hands over her burgundy jumpsuit, finally brushing away a tiny smudge of nude lipstick on her face. She’s warmed up to the idea of makeup overtime, but only at a minimal amount if she can convince Adora of it.

The plan was for everyone to leave together, but since they had conveniently left Catra and Adora to meet them at the banquet later, that means they have all the time they want to get ready at their own pace. At least, that’s how _they_ look at it.

Still, they’ve been getting ready for twenty minutes now and Catra figures they should really hurry it up before Bow comes stomping back here looking for them. But they’ve got to admit, it is really nice to finally have some peace and quiet after all the chaos that unfolded earlier. It was fun, nevertheless.

“Adora? Are you ready?” Catra calls out, still observing her reflection.

Unexpectedly, Catra feels herself being pulled around, arriving face to face with the other girl. She hadn’t realized Adora was so close.

Adora snakes her arms around her waist. “Mmm… I forgot something,” she murmurs, pulling Catra into an ardent kiss. When they pull away, their faces are mere inches from one another’s. “You know… we don’t _have_ to get there right away,” Adora suggests in a soft voice.

We do if we don’t want Bow to kill us,” Catra counters sarcastically, though part of that isn’t really a joke.

It doesn’t change Adora’s mind. “Ah, he’s probably busy taking care of everyone else right now,” Adora figures, easily shrugging it off. “What’s a few more minutes gonna do to him?”

The blonde tempts her with another short, soft kiss. She allows the feeling to linger for a few moments, then Adora pulls away and her hands find Catra’s own, taking slow steps backwards.

Catra sighs in defeat, allowing herself to get pulled by the other girl as she eyes that black dress.

Decidedly and without much contemplation, Catra roughly shoves Adora down onto the bed. “Yeah, they can wait.”

**Author's Note:**

> y’all didn’t think I would end this without some sexy Catradora times, did you? Also, when Catra said “it wasn’t me” I really wanted Adora to go WELL IT WAS FUCKIN ONE A YUS. Also Bow going EVERYONE TAKE OFF YOUR CLOTHES unintentionally became a reference to that Chris Fleming video. Bow totally had ‘company is coming’ vibes throughout this whole thing. XD


End file.
